An analysis of 30 ancient skeletons from Sudan reveals that around 4,000 years ago, women were using tumplines—head straps designed to carry heavy loads. These Bronze Age women may be the earliest known humans to use this now-global technique.

The skeletons were found buried in the ancient Abu Fatima cemetery in Nubia (now a region in Sudan). Of the 30 skeletons, 14 were female, and 16 were male. During their investigation, the researchers found clear signs of head strap use on the female skulls. Meanwhile, no such markers were observed on the male ones.

Even today, many women in the rural parts of Africa, Nepal, and north-east India use tumplines, but the researchers suggest that head strap use in ancient Sudan wasn’t limited to rural women. Their analysis shows that even women of elite status used head straps.

Finding signs of head strap use

While some ancient paintings show Nubian women using head straps to carry children in baskets, researchers note that carrying babies alone wouldn’t cause lasting skeletal changes. Those only appear when someone carries significantly heavier loads, frequently and over a long period.

“If these women simultaneously carried additional loads alongside the children, the total weight they bore could have been heavier. For anatomic changes to leave traces on the bones, an extended period of near-constant carrying would be required,” the researchers note.

To explore this further, the team focused on signs of skeletal stress in the skulls and neck vertebrae. They found specific wear patterns that result from weight being transferred from the forehead to the upper back—consistent with head strap use.

These marks were more common and more noticeable in women than in men, suggesting that women often used tumplines to carry heavy loads. In male skeletons, they found changes mostly in the shoulder region, indicating that men used their shoulders to carry stuff.

“The results indicate gender-specific load-carrying techniques among the individuals. Men displayed evidence of unilateral entheseal changes and humeroscapular osteoarthritis, indicating involvement in activities that necessitated bearing load on one shoulder. Women displayed distinct degenerative changes to the cervical vertebrae, indicating frequent musculoskeletal use of the upper neck,” the researchers added.

An elite surprise

The study marks the earliest known archaeological evidence of tumpline use and sheds light on how central women were to labor in ancient Nubian society.

“The use of tumplines by Nubian women to carry baskets with children can be interpreted as a traditional Nubian body technique for load carrying since neither Egyptian nor Levantine women are depicted using tumplines,” the study authors said.

One of the most surprising findings comes from the burial of a roughly 50-year-old woman. She was interred with luxurious items—like a finely crafted leather pillow and an ostrich feather fan—suggesting elite status. But her skeleton also showed the strongest markers of tumpline use, with distinct modifications in the skull and neck bones.

“Her case provides clear evidence of cranial and cervical modifications related to tumpline use,” the researchers note.

This challenges the idea that physically demanding tasks like load carrying were reserved for lower-status individuals. Instead, it suggests that women from all social levels—including the elite—participated in labor-intensive activities involving head straps in ancient Nubia.

While tumplines may seem like a relic of the past, they’re still very much in use today. In rural communities across Africa, the Himalayas, and parts of Latin America, people—especially women—continue to rely on head straps to carry water, firewood, produce, and even children. The fact that such techniques persist across millennia is a powerful reminder of human ingenuity—and the often overlooked physical resilience and contributions of women throughout history.

The study is published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.